Chilla-kashi

By Mayank Austen Soofi, *Delhi's cool retreat* Hindustan Times - New Delhi, India; Thursday, January 13, 2011

The chilla, or retreat, of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya is Delhi's most serene monument. Here, the city's iconic 14th cenury Sufi saint lived, meditated, and died. This was his khanqah -a monastery- where he used to perform chilla-kashi, the spiritual practice in which a secluded sufi goes without food or sleep for 40 days.

In Hazrat Nizamuddin's time, the khanqah was in wilderness. The Yamuna flowed a stone's throw away. Down the centuries, the river's course shifted further east; a railway line came up in its place. Despite the rumble of trains, the khanqah feels remote. Surrounded by trees, it is flanked on one side by the stony ramparts of Humayun's Tomb, and on the other, by the white dome of Gurudwara Damdama Sahib. Dozens of well-kept graves dot the slope behind.

Built on a stone platform, the khanqah has a vaulted veranda leading to a domed chamber, where Hazrat Nizamuddin prayed. In a recent renovation, the grassy yard was laid with marble. Battered walls and rubble masonry were partially painted white. New lamps were installed. The chamber's grilled door was done in green; it remains locked. Sitting on the veranda's velvety durree, the detached world of the kanqah grows intimate and hypnotic.

The resident fakir lives in a neighbouring ruin with seven cats. His chamber has an alcove in which believers light candles to wish away personal distresses. Pointing to a cell in the adjacent Humayun Tomb complex, the fakir tells us that it was Hazrat Nizamuddin's original hujra, or chamber, where he would withdraw from the world.

According to him, the kanqah was raised by a court noble named Ziauddeen Wakeel. When Wakeel offered to build a new chamber, Hazrat Nizamuddin warned that the person commissioning it would not live for long. Wakeel went on with the project, saying that everyone has to die someday. The kahanqah took 30 days to finish.

On the first evening of its completion, a mehfil was organised. As the songs and dance started, Wakeel's ecstatic soul left his body. His grave lies in the courtyard.

The graveyard in the backyard is as peaceful. In the evening, devotional songs waft over from the gurudwara. The effect is calming.

Where: Near Humayun's Tomb -drive straight past it towards Gurudara Damdama Sahib. Nearest Metro Station: Khan Market.

The Illusion Of Duality

By Namya Sinha *Some more drama* - Hindustan Times - New Delhi, India; Tuesday, January 11, 2011

It’s the sixth day of the 13th Bharat Rang Mahotsav, which is being held by the National School of Drama (NSD). There are still 10 days and 61 plays to go. Here’s a guide to a few of the many plays, still to be performed. Forest and He who Burns, two plays from United States of
America. This is for the first time that United States of America is participating in Bharat Rang Mahotsav.

“I have been coming to India for the past 15 years. The play He who Burns premiered here at NSD in 2006 and I choreographed it,” says Wendy Jehlen, choreographer and director of the play. The play has text in Urdu, English and Korean and is a melange of dance, text, video, music together through which they explore the figure of Iblis (Satan), as understood in Sufi traditions. The texts have been taken through Sufi poetry.

It talks about the nature of humanity's relationship with the divine, the eternal quest for unity and the illusion of duality in the human experience.

The group is also presenting a non-verbal production called Forest. The play is dedicated to Brother Blue, an Afro-American storyteller and it explores... well, the forest.

When: Jan 14; Where: Abhimanch; Time: 9.30pm

Bisarjan, from Kolkata Based on Rabindranath Tagore’s novel, Rajarshi, this Bengali play is directed by Suman Mukhopadhyay. “Many directors have tried it. The play shows the conflict between a priest and a king that leads to tragedy,” says Mukhopadhyay.

When: Jan 12; Where: Kamani Auditorium; Time: 7pm

Khwabon Ke Musafir, from PakistanDirected by Zia Mohyeddin and based on story by Urdu writer Intizar Hussain, the story revolves around a middle class Muslim family. It deals with clashes between different cultural lineages that migrants from different regions brought with them to Pakistan. The play is in Urdu.

When: Jan 14; Where: Kamani Auditorium; Time: 7pm

Brecht — The Hardcore Machine, from SerbiaBased on German playwright and theatre director Bertolt Brecht’s famous poem Buckower Elegies, the play tells the story of a young working girl who enters the wonderful world of ideology and corporeality. In the play, the body acts while physical action evokes dramatic and historic contents. The play that will be in Hungarian language, will have english subtitles.

When: Jan 19; Where: LTG; Auditorium Time: 5.30pm

All about Love, from Ukraine A first time participant, the team from Ukraine’s production — presented through animation, puppet show and plastic drama — will use classic literature to understand the values of human life. The play is in Ukrainian language.

When: Jan 20 Where: Abhimanch Time: 9.30 pm

[Picture: The Forest. Photo: NSD Theater Festival]

A Day Before

By Andrew Buncombe, *Hindu holy man reveals truth of terror attacks blamed on Muslims* - The Independent - London, UK; Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Delhi: India is being forced to confront disturbing evidence that increasingly suggests a secret Hindu terror network may have been responsible for a wave of deadly attacks previously blamed on radical Muslims.

Information contained in a confession given in court by a Hindu holy man, suggests that he and several others linked to a right-wing Hindu organisation, planned and carried out attacks on a train travelling to Pakistan, a Sufi shrine and a mosque as well as two assaults on Malegaon, a town in southern India with a large Muslim population.

He claimed the attacks were launched in response to the actions of Muslim militants. "I told everybody that we should answer bombs with bombs," 59-year-old Swami Aseemanand, whose real name is Naba Kumar Sarkar, told a magistrate during a closed hearing in Delhi.

"I suggested that 80 per cent of the people of Malegaon were Muslims and we should explode the first bomb in Malegaon itself. I also said that during partition, the Nizam of Hyderabad had wanted to go with Pakistan so Hyderabad was also a fair target. Then I said that since Hindus also throng [a Sufi shrine in] Ajmer we should also explode a bomb in Ajmer which would deter the Hindus from going there. I also suggested the Aligarh Muslim University as a target."

Police in India have suspected for some time that Hindus may have been responsible for the attacks carried out between 2006 and 2008, and in November of that year several arrests were made, including that of a serving military officer. But the confession of Swami Aseemanand, obtained by an Indian news magazine, is perhaps the most damning evidence yet that Hindu extremists were responsible. It also suggests those involved were senior members of a religious group that is the parent organisation of India's main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"The evidence is not conclusive but people have to take notice of this," said Bahukutumbi Raman, a former national security adviser and now a leading regional security analyst. "This could aggravate tensions between India's [Hindu and Muslim] communities. It will create problems."

The revelations in Tehelka magazine, bear added significance following the comments of Rahul Gandhi, widely expected to be a future prime minister, in which he said he believed the growth of Hindu extremists presented a greater threat to India than Muslim militants. According to a cable obtained by WikiLeaks, last year Mr Gandhi told the US ambassador to Delhi, Timothy Roemer: "Although there was evidence of some support for Laskar-e-Taiba among certain elements in India's indigenous Muslim community, the bigger threat may be the growth of radicalised Hindu groups, which create religious tensions and political confrontations with the Muslim community."

At the time, Mr Gandhi's comments were strongly condemned by the BJP. But the main opposition party has been pushed on to the back foot by the testimony of Swami Aseemanand, which suggests many of those involved in the bombing plots were members of religious organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

The RSS is considered the BJP's ideological parent. This week, the RSS's leader, Mohan Bhagwat, claimed extremists had been forced out. "Elements nurturing extremist views have been asked to leave the organisation," he said. "A majority of the people whom the government has accused... had left voluntarily and a few were told that this extremism will not work here."

Among the incidents initially blamed on Muslim militants was a bomb attack in February 2007 on the Samjhauta Express, travelling between Delhi and Lahore. Of the 68 deaths, most were Pakistani citizens returning home. The attack took place a day before Pakistan's Foreign Minister was due to arrive in India for peace talks.

Swami Aseemanand was arrested in Haridwar last November, having apparently been in hiding for more than two years. In his 42-page confession to the magistrate, he reportedly claimed he had been spurred into action by a series of Muslim attacks on Hindus, in particular the assault on the Akshardham temple in Gujarat 2002 that left at least 29 people dead. "This caused great concern and anger in me," he said.

The attacks under scrutiny

Samjhauta Express: In February 2007, two firebombs exploded on the train commonly known as the 'Friendship Express' which travels across the Indo-Pakistani border. Most of the 68 victims and 50 injured were of Pakistani origin. Three further unexploded suitcase bombs were later found on the train.

Mecca Masjid: An attack on the Mecca Masjid mosque, which is in Hyderabad's old city, left 14 people dead in May 2007 – with five apparently killed by police firing on a furious mob after the incident. Swami Aseemanand apparently said that the site was chosen because the local administrator wanted to be part of Pakistan during partition.

Ajmer: A famous Muslim shrine in the city of Ajmer in Rajasthan, about 350km south-west of Delhi, was targeted by bomb attacks in October later that year. Two people were killed and 17 injured near the scared shrine, which houses the tomb of a 13th-century Sufi saint. Swami Aseemanand said the blast was intended to deter Hindus from going there.

Malegaon: In September 2008, three bomb blasts killed 37 people in the Muslim-majority city of Malegaon, situated about 160 miles north-east of Maharashtra's state capital, Mumbai. Muslims had been attending prayers when the bombs exploded in a sacred burial ground, also injuring more than 125 people.

Picture: The attack on the Samjhauta Express in 2007 may not have been the work of Muslim militants. Photo: TI.

Sufi Jazz

By Sharin Bhatti, *Blow your trumpet* - Hindustan Times - Mumbai, India; Friday, January 7, 2010

Last month, jazz trumpeter Erik Truffaz enthralled audiences in India when he played with tabla man Talvin Singh. More recently, he put melody to Afro-French rapper Sly Johnson. This week, Truffaz flew down with Ethiopian singer-violinist Mounir Troudi to play some Arabic rhythms and sufi jazz.

Playing with melody

If constant reinvention is an idiom to play by, Truffaz is an effective proponent. “I like to play with melody and harmony. Music all over the world is so rich that it’s only natural for me to be attracted to it in order to imbibe it in my senses,” says Truffaz. On his fourth visit to the country, Truffaz played a live set at Blue Frog where he directed Trudi’s soulful singing with his modal jazz elements.

“I liked Troudi’s sound. Every time I make music, I like to give it elements of drama, like a novel with moments of tension and calm,” adds Truffaz. And as he describes, there were some surprising tones: almost breakbeat-like drum patterns, bass lines with the depth and edge of drum and bass, a delightful plaintive duo with an oud, heart-rending Arabic singing from Mounir Troudi on day one of their performance.

“I couldn’t ask musicians to play like that if they weren’t totally into it themselves,” says Truffaz. “Of course, I was a bit afraid that the audience wouldn’t follow me, but they have. Mumbai’s listeners are really evolved that way. They understand notes and react intelligently.”

Indian influence

Truffaz first came to India in 2008 and learned Hindustani classical music from Hariprasad Chaurasia to record an album, Benaras in Kolkata.

“He taught me how to play the ragas on flute and I extended them to the trumpet. That is something that always stayed with me,” Truffaz says, adding Chaurasia to his influences which also include Miles Davis and Led Zeppelin.

Like true jazz, Truffaz’s repertoire expanded to works by Mozart and Verdi, and he performed as part of Orchestre de Suisse Romande. He also played in cover bands before establishing a group called Orange. The band concentrated on Truffaz's compositions. Among its members was Marc Erbetta, a drummer who continued to play with Truffaz as the trumpeter evolved.

“Jazz is improvisation, and if you need to understand how to do it, you need to know classical music and I am always open to new music. That is why I like to keep extending my collaborations to all forms of artistes,” says Truffaz.

[Pictures: Erik Truffaz. Photo: Wiki; Mounir Troudi. Photo: Erik Truffaz website.]

Also Equally Upset

By Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain, *The liberal conundrum* - Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan; Monday, January 10, 2011

It is necessary for the liberal and conservative Muslims to find common ground and create a centrist coalition that can act against the increasing polarisation seen in Pakistan at this time. This is not a liberal or conservative issue nor is it about politics, but it is about the survival of Pakistan as we know it

The assassination of Salmaan Taseer must be condemned by all those who believe in the rule of law. Religious fervour is no defence for unlawful and illegal behaviour.

That said, it is also important to resist the temptation to condemn all those who are beholden to the blasphemy laws as an article of faith of being complicit in this act.

As a liberal I share many of the sentiments expressed by the late Salmaan Taseer and feel as many others in my position that this act of extreme violence will considerably decrease the ‘space’ available to discuss important political and social problems faced by Pakistan at this time.

Having lived in the US for most of my adult life, I have developed considerable respect for the concept of ‘pluralism’. In essence it is the idea that ‘your religion for you and my religion for me’. It is only because of the prevalence of this concept that Muslims like me are accepted as equals in the US.

During the time I spend in Pakistan I try my best to understand what motivates most of the ‘conservative’ Muslims that I get a chance to work with. Frankly, some of the people that I get along with the best are devout Muslims and surprisingly they accept me for what I am, a westernised liberal. The reason why they accept me is because I also accept them for what they are and in this I can say truly that I respect their religiosity as well as their devotion to Islamic ideals. Pluralism works both ways and that has allowed me to live and work productively in Pakistan.

Here I must admit that a major problem I see around me is the contempt demonstrated by many liberals for the believing sort, the reverse of this being the disdain that religious conservatives have for liberals and their presumably ‘faithless’ lifestyles. This is not a uniquely Pakistani phenomenon. Many liberals in the US demonstrate a similar sense of superiority when it comes to religious conservatives and the conservatives are equally disenchanted with avowed liberals. The important point to make for me as a liberal is that all conservatives are not the same and once they are drawn out of the realm of religious orthodoxy, there is much in common between them and political liberals.

Even in the US there are some high profile acts of violence committed by religiously devout people, most often when it comes to the pervasive problem of abortion. Abortion clinics have been attacked and physicians providing these services have been killed. It is possible that some within the anti-abortion movement have sympathy for these criminals but this does not extend to the entire spectrum of the Catholics who oppose abortion for religious reasons. Antipathy towards abortion for most of them does not translate into overt support for illegal behaviour.

Before I go any further, I must reiterate that I strongly condemn the assassination of Salmaan Taseer and I also believe that Taseer was absolutely right in his defence of the Christian woman condemned to death for alleged blasphemy. I also agree that the blasphemy laws have often been used to settle scores against non-Muslims. That said, I also want to present a particular point of view. The assassination of Taseer by an avowedly devout Muslim must not be conflated with the sort of terrorism that we see perpetrated against hundreds of innocent Muslims by the Taliban types as an attempt at undermining Pakistani society as we know it.

The members of the otherwise ‘moderate’ and generally pro-Sufi Hanafi-Barelvi Muslims of this part of the world, who are a majority in Pakistan, are extremely beholden to the memory of the Prophet (PBUH). As such they are extremely sensitive to anything that even remotely resembles blasphemy. At the same time, it is also important to realise that the Taliban types have repeatedly attacked Sufi shrines and have sought a confrontation against the followers of the Hanafi-Barelvi persuasion that follow Sufi thought and principles.

In essence, the real fight going on for the heart and soul of devout Pakistani Muslims at this time is not between the liberals and the orthodox Muslims but rather between the Deobandi-Wahabi-Salafi-Ahl-e-Hadees and the Hanafi-Barelvis.

The assassination of Salmaan Taseer has created an interesting situation. For the first time in many years that I remember, the liberals in Pakistan have been thrown together and have found a cause they can unite around. We the liberals must not waste this opportunity by railing against all religious conservatives. Let us choose what we must fight against.

What is needed is somebody who can articulate a coherent point of view that accepts the position espoused by many devout Muslims while also calling for the supremacy of the rule of law.

The important thing to remember in this situation is that many conservative Muslims who feel strongly about the sanctity of the Prophet (PBUH) are also equally upset about the assassination of Salmaan Taseer and condemn it as an act of violence outside the parameters of both the law of the land as well as accepted Islamic practice.

It is necessary for the liberal and conservative Muslims to find common ground and create a centrist coalition that can act against the increasing polarisation seen in Pakistan at this time. This is not a liberal or conservative issue nor is it about politics, but it is about the survival of Pakistan as we know it.

The problem of course is where to find a person that can lead us in this situation. Such a person or a group of people could come from either side of the liberal-conservative divide. I am sure that there are many people who could take on this role if only they were not afraid for their own lives.

I would for instance love to see people like Imran Khan and Aitzaz Ahsan joining hands to take on extremists from both sides.

The writer has practised and taught medicine in the US. He can be reached at smhmbbs70@yahoo.com

Increasing Numbers

By TZ Staff Writer w/Wires, *Mevlana Museum draws record number of visitors in 2010* - Today's Zaman - Istanbul, Turkey; Saturday, January 8, 2010

The Mevlana Museum in the Central Anatolian province of Konya drew a record number of visitors last year, having been visited by nearly 2 million people throughout 2010, news agencies reported yesterday.

The Mevlana Museum, which houses the tomb of the 13th-century Sufi saint and poet Mevlana Muhammad Jelaluddin Rumi, attracted 1,750,000 visitors in 2010, the museum’s deputy director, Naci Bakırcı, told the Anatolia news agency.

A total of 422,445 foreign tourists visited the museum in 2010, increasing numbers by 35 percent when compared to 2009 figures, Bakırcı said.

The museum, housed in a 16th-century structure, draws approximately 8,000 museum-goers daily. Last year’s Sheb-i Arus ceremonies, the annual weeklong ritual commemorating Rumi on the anniversary of his death, also held on the museum’s grounds, attracted 52,500 visitors to the museum from Dec. 7-17, Bakırcı added.

Each year, on Dec. 17, the Mevlevi Order performs a sema (dance of the whirling dervishes) ceremony to mark Rumi’s death and his reunion with God.

[Picture: Turkish Banknote (1981-1994) depicting Mevlana Rumi. Photo: Wiki.]

They Could Make Them Learn

IBNA Staff Writer, *Mawlavi and Shariati liquating false Sufism* - IBNA Iran Book News Agency - Tehran, Iran; Friday, January 7, 2011

Seyyed Mohammad Borhani author of ‘Mawlavi and Shariati’ has made a new comparative reading of Shariati’s thought and Mawlana Rumi’s.

According to him, promotion of the ideas of great thinkers is a practical means to refusal of false Sufism which is only possible through elevation of public knowledge of Islamic mysticisms.

IBNA: he said: “What is important in the introduction of these two figures’ mysticism is that they both had a deep knowledge of their contemporary religions and cultures and both have believed in Islamic mysticism as the best path to truth.”

He added: “Dr Ali Shariati addresses his son Eshan on page 107 of ‘To Familiar Audiences’ and says, ‘I am going to familiarize you with a person who can by himself cope with all fallacies and diversions in East and West; he is Mowlana Rumi.”

Borhani continued: “Dr Shariati’s special attention to Mowlana’s thought made me write about common indicators of Shariati’s and Rumi’s ideas in a volume as Dr Shariati was familiar with all schools of thought and religions of his time in east and west yet he introduces Mowlana Rumi to his son as the best model to follow.”

Borhani referred to the results of this comparison and said: “It became clear that these figures had many things in common the most important of which is having a sophisticated and literate father with mastery over his contemporary culture. Mowlana Rumi learnt the preliminaries of Islamic culture from his father Sultan-al-Olama when he was seven, and Dr Shariati also leant about the roots of Islam in preschool age from his father Mohammad-Taghi Shariati, an interpreter of Quran.”

“Both of them were talented with mental creativity as Rumi composed about 60 thousand lines of his Qazales after meeting Shams and Shariati too applied this creativity on expressing his ideas.”

Borhani continued: “Another common issue in their thoughts is that none were fanatic for being Shia and this led to the absorption of fans from many other religions or schools of thought, and they could make them learn about Islamic instructions on piety and self improvement.”

Borhani remarked that although rich mysticism shows the path to truth and self-purification in a comprehensive way, individuals in contemporary society are interested in false Sufism due to their lack of information about it, whereas Mowlana the mystic and Shariati the intellectual have mastery over their thought as appropriate models for reaching truth.”

Borhani said the best place for introducing their thoughts is school: “In order to eradicate false Sufism, I suggested teaching Mathnavi Ma’navi as school course to the Ministry of Education so that the youth’s familiarity with Islamic mysticism could start in early school age rather than through individuals and false methods.”

Thousands Still Visit

By Huma Imtiaz and Charlotte Buchen, *The Islam That Hard-Liners Hate* - The New York Times - New York, NY, USA; Thursday, January 6, 2011

Kasur, Pakistan: In Pakistan’s heartland, holy men with bells tied to their feet close their eyes and sway to the music. Nearby, rose petals are tossed on tombstones. Free food is distributed to devotees.

This peaceful tableau is part of Sufism, Pakistan’s most popular brand of Islam, which attracts millions of worshipers at about a dozen major festivals throughout the year. Each day, thousands visit shrines dedicated to Sufi saints.

But the rituals came under heavy attack in 2010, as minority hard-line militants took responsibility for five shrine attacks that killed 64 people — a marked increased compared with 2005 to 2009, when nine attacks killed 81 people.

Attacks in previous years occurred in the middle of the night or when worshipers were not present, apparently in an effort to avoid causalities. But in 2010, terrorists carried out suicide bombings when thousands of worshipers were present, and in the nation’s largest cities, like Karachi and Lahore.

The increase in attacks, and a direct effort to kill those who practice a more mystical brand of Islam, has torn the fabric of mainstream worship in Pakistan. But as worshipers continue to visit the Sufi shrines and many Sufi festivals continue in the face of threats, it also evidences the perseverance of Pakistan’s more moderate brand of Islam.

“It’s a very disturbing picture that militants have extended their targets to shrines, which are symbols of popular Islam in Pakistan and are widely visited,” said Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences.

“However, I don’t think the militants are succeeding – thousands of people still visit the shrines despite these attacks.”

Although there is no official data, the number of people who informally follow Sufi traditions is believed to be in the millions. They have long been condemned as un-Islamic by fundamentalist groups because they worship saints and perform music and dance.

The United States, meanwhile, sees Sufi Islam as a counter force to terrorism, and has helped promote it by giving more than $1.5 million since 2001 on the restoration and conservation of Sufi shrines in Pakistan.

Amir Rana, the director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, a think tank that analyzes religious conflict, said there were several reasons for the recent spike in attacks on Sufi shrines.
Groups within Al Qaeda, which have increased their strategic operations in Pakistan since 2007, have expanded their ideological war on the sectarian divide.

Mr. Rana also said militants suddenly changed their strategy in 2009, when they started soft targets, or popular and less secure venues, such as the Meena Bazaar in Peshawar, as a way to retain their radical sympathizers.

Other experts say that fragmented militant groups in Pakistan have fully spun out control, and the shrine attacks fit a larger pattern that finds extremist groups who in the past have focused on Kashmir and Afghanistan now turning inward to assert their power and ideology within Pakistan’s borders.

“Militancy keeps on demanding sacrifices,” Ayesha Siddiqa, a security analyst who says he is a descendant of a Sufi saint, said. “So if it’s not targeting the enemy outside, it’s targeting the enemy within.”

In the eyes of some extremists, Sufi loyalists can be viewed as cohorts of the Pakistani government. Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi both carry saint-like status because they are from prominent Sufi families that have been caretakers for shrines synonymous with the ruling elite. In turn, those in power often use such devoted followings as a tool for recruiting voters.

Pir Tayyab, a hard-line Deobandi cleric who has been associated with militant organizations, including the Pakistani Taliban, said that while it was acceptable to pray for a saint’s soul at a shrine, it is forbidden to search for God’s qualities in a saint.

“The singing and dancing that takes place at shrines is disrespectful,” he said. However, he said, bombing a shrine is also unacceptable. “It is not correct to disrespect a grave or to remove someone from his grave.”

While provincial governments have scaled back some musical performances in response to threats, the large gatherings persist, drawing big and determined crowds at major shrines on a near weekly basis.

The only major cancellation over security fears was made by the Sindh provincial government, which canceled musical performances that were a permanent feature of Karachi’s festivals.

Prodded by protests that demanded more security, the government of Punjab, which oversees more than 500 shrines, is spending $400,000 on increased security at 15 of its major shrines this year, including the installation of cameras, security gates and metal detectors. At some shrines, officials said donors had paid for new security installations.

But security is rarely a deterrent to attacks. The Pakistani Taliban remains unfazed by the government’s efforts to safeguard the shrines. The government installed two security gates in 2008 at Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine, the most famous shrine in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city. But in October 2010, two suicide bombers detonated explosives there, killing 9 and injuring 75.

Since the blasts, and just before an annual Sufi celebration, the government installed 18 security cameras at the shrine.

Adam B. Ellick contributed reporting.

[Click on the title to the 5' 30'' video *Sufism Under Attack in Pakistan" in the original article (ed.)]

[Picture from the PAK INSTITUTE for Peace Studies (PIPS)]

"Liberté!"

By Cahal Milmo, *Honoured at last, the Indian heroine of Churchill's spy squad* - The Independent - London, UK; Tuesday, January 4, 2011

On 13 September 1944, a glamorous British agent known as Madeleine was shot dead at Dachau concentration camp by her Nazi captors.

Despite being tortured by the Gestapo during 10 months of imprisonment, she had revealed nothing of use to her interrogators. Her last act was to shout "Liberté!" ["Freedom!"].

Her bravery and forbearance were made all the remarkable by the fact that Madeleine's real name was Noor Inayat Khan, and she was the daughter of an Indian Muslim preacher and a devoted supporter of independence for her ancestral homeland.

She had joined Winston Churchill's sabotage force, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), and was the first female radio operator sent into France, with the famous instruction to "set Europe ablaze".

The role was so dangerous that Noor, like her father a Sufi Muslim, arrived in Paris with a life expectancy of just six weeks. But she lasted three months, single-handedly running a cell of spies as she traversed the city, frequently changing her appearance and alias until she was betrayed, aged 30, most likely by the jealous girlfriend of a comrade.

It is a tale of great courage which has long been recognised on the other side of the Channel, where there are two memorials and a ceremony is held each year to mark Noor's death. But in Britain, the contribution of this Anglo-Indian heroine who gave her life to defeat Nazism has been forgotten.

That is about to change with the launch of a campaign to raise £100,000 to install a bronze bust of her in central London close to her former home. It would be the first memorial in Britain to either a Muslim or an Asian woman.

The project, which has the backing of 34 MPs and prominent British Asians, including human rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti and film director Gurinder Chadha, is being led by the London-based biographer of Noor as part of a rekindling of interest in her story, which includes the making of a £10m biopic by a British production company.

Shrabani Basu, who spent eight years researching Noor's history in official archives and family records, said: "I feel it is very important that what she did should not be allowed to fade from memory, particularly living in the times that we do. Here was a young Muslim woman who gave her life for this country and for the fight against those who wanted to destroy the Jewish race. She was an icon for the bond that exists between Britain and India but also between people who fought for what they believed to be right."

Around £25,000 of the cost of the bust has been raised and permission granted to site the sculpture on land owned by the University of London in Gordon Square, close to the Bloomsbury house where Noor lived as a child in 1914, and where she returned while training for the SOE during the Second World War.

New Year's Day marked the 96th anniversary of her birth.

Born in Moscow to an American mother, educated in Paris and carrying the British passport of an imperial subject, Noor had no innate loyalty to the country for which she died. Her great-great-great-grandfather was Tipu Sultan, the renowned "Tiger of Mysore", who refused to submit to British rule and was killed in battle in 1799.

It may have been tales of his ferocity in battle told by her father, Hazrat, which steeled Noor to carry a pistol through the streets of Paris, but she was not a natural warrior. Suffused with Sufism's creed of non-violence, she studied child psychology at the Sorbonne and became a children's writer in the 1930s.

But when war broke out in 1939, Noor and one of her brothers, Vilayat, decided they had to travel to London, setting aside a fervent support of Indian independence which had brought their father into contact with Mahatma Gandhi and dedicating themselves to what they saw as the greater evil of Nazi Germany.

After she was rejected by the Women's Auxillary Air Force, her fluent French, quiet dedication and training in radio transmitting were spotted by SOE officers.

Initially, her recruiters were less than generous in their assessment. One wrote: "Not overburdened with brains but has worked hard and shown keenness, apart from some dislike of [the] security side of the course. She has an unstable and temperamental personality and it is very doubtful whether she is really suited to work in the field."

But over time this view changed. Her commander, Maurice Buckmaster, head of the SOE's French section, later noted: "A most brave and touchingly keen girl. She was determined to do her bit to hit the Germans and, poor girl, she has."

Khudi, Ishq, Banda-e-momin

By Manju Gupta, *A taste of Urdu literature* - Organiser - Delhi, India; 2011 Issues January 9/2011

Glimpses of Urdu Literature: Select Writings, Zahida Zaidi, Promilla & Co., (HB), Pp 280, Rs 550.00

In this collection of essays covering Urdu poetry, fiction and drama, the compiler tries to present the trends in Urdu literature.

In the ancient times, Urdu literary tradition included masnavi, qasida and ghazal, where masnavi was narrative prose based on a romantic theme; qasida was merely confined to the praise of kings and patrons in which Mirza Ghalib achieved artistic perfection; and ghazal’s thematic structures were love and tasavuf (mysticism or Sufism).

Part I on poetry highlights the notable trends with reference to some major writers and important literary movements. Beginning with Asadullah Khan Ghalib’s short life story and his creations, the compiler says that the former came to be known as the greatest Urdu poet by common consent.

His intellect penetrated into his own experiences as well as manifestations of the world around him. Thus his verses capture with acute artistry the tragic disintegration of a social and cultural order and its moral decline. Ghalib’s own life was an unending series of misfortunes and disappointments and this is reflected in his poetry with profound sensitivity and fine variations.

Poet Mohammad Iqbal followed Ghalib to make a name for himself in poetry, wherein his social and political consciousness crossed national boundaries to embrace more universal international themes. His sympathies were with the underprivileged and he welcomed the socialist revolution in Russian but was critical of his antagonism to religion.

His three concepts - khudi (self), ishq (love) and banda-e-momin (perfect man) were central to his poetic thought.

Under Urdu fiction, the compiler has singled out Munshi Prem Chand for his ‘Maidan-e-Amal’, in which the author compressed all his favourite and significant themes with skill and sensitive perception. It touches upon the evils of the caste system, untouchability, narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy.

The third section on modern Urdu drama mentions plays like ‘Yahudi ki Ladki’, ‘Rustam aur Sohrab’, which paved the way for Urdu dramas like ‘Anarkali’, ‘Karbala’ and writers like Sadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai, K.A. Abbas, Krishen Chander, Rajinder Singh Bedi, etc. to show their creative skills.

While Manto wrote on fallen women, Bedi showed intensity of feeling, awareness of the cruelty and insensitivity ingrained in our society.

Readers interested in Urdu literature but not knowing the Urdu script can get some information of relevance to them.

(Promilla & Co., Publishers & Bibliophile South Asia, C-127 Sarvodaya Enclave, New Delhi-110 017)

***
[from Amazon.com (ed.)]

Product Description

Here is a collection of informative and perceptive essays on some landmark figures of Urdu literature.

Divided into three sections -- poetry, fiction and drama, in that order -- the galaxy is headed by Ghalib and Iqbal, the two fabled poets of Urdu. Flanking them are five outstanding modern poets, viz., Faiz, Sardar Jafri, Makhdoom Muhiuddin, Akhtarul Iman and Munibur Rehman.

A general essay on the secular and humanist traditions of Urdu literature precedes the studies. Among the novelists are some of the perennials -- Prem Chand, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Quratul-Ain Haider -- flanked by two significant modern writers -- Anwar Azeem and Pegham Afaqi.

A comprehensive essay on Urdu drama and dramatists makes up the third and final section.

Trends in theatre movements are also discussed in the essay.

What kind of readership does one envisage for this uncommon work? Writers in other languages and students researching on Urdu literature are of course the obvious targeted readers. It may also be of interest to the younger generations of Urdu-knowing families who are interested in Urdu literature but are not well-versed in the script.

And above all, we hope this book will be read by lovers of Urdu poetry and literature all over the world.

About the Author

Zahida Zaidi, who retired as Professor of English from Aligarh Muslim University is a distinguished bi-lingual writer in English and Urdu, poet, dramatist and stage director.

She has her Honours in English from Cambridge University.

In her poetry great depth of feeling and freshness of imagery are balanced by a perfect grip over form and technique. As a dramatist, she is considered to be one of the best at present.

Professor Zaidi does the direction and staging of her plays herself.

In addition she has staged, directed and translated into Urdu most of the acclaimed modern dramatists and literary giants of the West. Chekhov, Pirandello, Sartre, Beckett and Ionesco are among the greats of the Western world she has translated and staged.

Among the Indian giants she has tackled with characteristic finesse and fervour Krishan Chandar, Wamiq Jaunpuri, Ismat Chugtai and Sardar Jafri.

Hers is a truly global range.

Product Details
Hardcover: 280 pages
Publisher: Promilla and Co. (August 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9380188048
ISBN-13: 978-9380188041

In Favor Of Sufism

By Huda Al-Saleh, *A Conversation with Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi* - Asharq Alawsat - London, UK; Sunday, December 26, 2010

Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat- In an extensive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi revealed that he turned down the post of "Muslim Brotherhood guide" on numerous occasions, preferring to remain a guide for the nation.

Al-Qaradawi also revealed that he believes that the traditional Salafi trend has become divided into several schools of thought, some of which are very close to the Muslim Brotherhood Group.

Sheikh al-Qaradawi also stated that the Islamic jurisprudence crisis relating to women's issues cannot be attributed to Islam, but that it is a crisis in understanding these issues by some people.

The Following is the full text of the interview:

[Asharq Al Awsat] Your Eminence, allow us to start with your assessment of the current crop of Islamist Movements, particularly regarding the issue of secrecy and the lack of transparency?

[Al-Qaradawi] First of all, we would like to ask: What is the meaning of the political Islamist movement? I have the book, "Priorities of the Islamist Movements," in which the Islamist movements are defined as organized collective popular work to serve Islam. The work has to be popular and non-official; also it has to be collective and not individual, because the individual work can never achieve great aims; it also has to be organized with leadership and grassroots, and its aim has to be to make Islam victorious; moreover the Islamist movement has to have links to politics, because it is not possible to raise the status of Islam unless it has influence and impact. In the life and nature of Islam there is call, state, creed, Shariaa, worship, dealings, faith, and worldly life; in order that this is achieved, Islam has to be linked to politics.

[Asharq Al Awsat] What about the secret work of the Islamist movements?

[Al-Qaradawi] Not all the Islamist movements, as I describe them, are based on secrecy. This depends on the countries in which these movements operate; if they are countries that allow work to support Islam, and such work is not legally or constitutionally banned, then the groups work openly. There is the example of the Jamaat-e Islami in Pakistan, which was established by Mr. Abul A'ala Maududi; its nature since it was established has been to work openly and publicly. As for the Muslim Brotherhood, it is described as a banned group because the state does not allow Islamist work in public, and also prevents the establishment of a party that is linked to Islam on the pretext of banning the establishment of parties on religious bases.

Here I wonder, are the religious people banned from practicing politics and participating in the building of the country?! There is no doubt that this is a crime, because religion is the essence of life, and the religious individual has the right to participate in building the country through his personal opinion, be it political, economic, educational, or health opinion. If the state prevents the practicing of politics, then this will certainly lead to underground work.

I was asked by a state security officer at a meeting about my opinion of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and I called on him to grant the group the freedom to work openly. Why is the Muslim Brotherhood prevented from establishing a party?

If the groups are banned from working publicly, they will start to work underground. The Islamist groups might be forced to work secretly. This is an unhealthy situation, because whoever works in the open can be held to account for his actions, and you can criticize him, but how can you hold to account whoever works in secret?

[Asharq Al Awsat] Are governments exaggerating the dangers of political Islamist movements, because of the fear that these movements one day might demand their right to govern?

[Al-Qaradawi] Sometimes the apprehensions can be correct, but at other times they only are mere illusions. Many of the existing governments now do not have any popular support; they are governments that are hated by their peoples, and they govern their countries by brute force, and martial and emergency laws rather than governing through the consensus of the people. It is possible that they hold elections in the name of democracy, and establish parliaments; however, the fact is that they do not express the satisfaction of the people as these government rig the elections. As an old socialist has said: Elections in the socialist countries are a "one-horse race," and hence the result is that the candidate wins the famous four nines (99.99 percent).

[Asharq Al Awsat] What are your thoughts on what some are describing as an internal split within Islamist movements between patriotic and revolutionary divisions?

[Al-Qaradawi] Splits happen frequently, whether in Islamist or non-Islamist movements. This is because there are those who do not like continuous silence, and they have violent and revolutionary character, and hence they split, and establish another group whose course is violence. However, what is important in all this is the mother group, which in many cases is the one that remains, and the splinters become unable to do anything, and they dissolve in society.

[Asharq Al Awsat] But why do Islamist groups fail in implementation?

[Al-Qaradawi] This is not restricted only to the Islamist groups. All the idealistic movements that have principles for which they call, when the time comes for implementation the idealistic call becomes one thing, and the implementation becomes another. This is the nature of man himself, and the nature of human beings. Not all movements are like this, and it is wrong to generalize this judgment; nevertheless, the Islamist movements remain better than others, because religion protects from severe deviation; all democrats are the first ones to encroach upon the principles of democracy.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Let us move to the current relations between the Muslim Brotherhood, and traditional Salafism. Recently a form of competition has started to emerge between the Salafi tendency of the Muslim Brotherhood on both the political and jihadi arenas, and this competition has been spread even within the ranks of the Muslim Brotherhood themselves. What do you say about this?

[Al-Qaradawi] This is true. The Muslim Brotherhood tendency is a broad one. Sheikh Hasan al-Banna, the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, when describing the group says that it includes all the concepts for which all groups call. He says that it is a Salafi movement as it calls for returning to the Koran and Sunnah, it is a Sufi tendency as it calls for purifying the hearts and returning to God, it is a Sunni way that is based on honoring the Prophet's companions and on the work of the Sunni school of thinking; moreover, it is a political body, a sports group, a youths league. The group includes all the reformist concepts. The advantage of the Muslim Brotherhood lies in its comprehensive character and its balance, as it does not exaggerate in supporting one tendency at the expense of another. For instance, the Salafi tendency sometimes prevails over the Muslim Brotherhood; this tendency adopts a hard-line attitude about issues including the interpretation of God's qualities, the arguments between the Salafi and the Ash'ari [Sunni sub-sect believes that that man does not have the power to act before he actually acts and that God creates this power in him at the time of action], the Maturidi [Sunni sub-sect believes that before the action man has a certain general power for action but that this power becomes specific to a particular action only when the action is performed], and others. Thus, the Salafis enter the arena, and these issues and others become the focus of a major debate, arguments, and fighting. This exists in particular in the Gulf countries, where the Muslim Brotherhood tendency has been influenced by the Salafi tendency.

[Asharq Al Awsat] But the relations between the Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood have not been good, and these relations have become more critical in the case of the traditional Salafi after Hamas entered the political arena?

[Al-Qaradawi] The traditional Salafism has become several schools of thinking, and is no longer a single school. There is a Salafi movement that is close to the Muslim Brotherhood, and now there are those who say to the Salafis: Now you are talking like Al-Qaradawi. There are Salafis who have become close to centrism, which is based on combining the opposites, combining mind and matter, combining the spirit and the material, sometimes interpreting and at other times abstaining from interpretation, and combining intellect, action, religion, and politics. Moreover, we cannot disregard the development of the Salafis; in the past they did not talk about politics, but now they participate in the political battles and the elections after they reproached the Muslim Brotherhood for a long time for doing so. The Salafis also have developed in several jurisprudence issues, such as "photography," which they used to consider one of the major crimes, but now they consider it allowed.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Is this change due to enlightenment, or has reality imposed this change?

[Al-Qaradawi] There is no doubt that the reality has imposed change on them, including getting in touch with the world, and their travel to the world countries, after a large number of them used never to leave their own countries, which was the cause of not changing their thinking. When the Salafi goes out, and gets in touch with the various peoples, he definitely will revise his views. Also there are those whose reading has expanded, and got acquainted with books they never expected to read at any time. Man is not a stone, and there are many influences that are bound to cast their shadow on the individual.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Has the Muslim Brotherhood abandoned the jihad currently represented by the Hamas Movement?

[Al-Qaradawi] The groups that have been based on jihad, such as the jihadi or Salafi jihadi groups have been established against the Muslim Brotherhood. The first jihadi group was established as opposing the Muslim Brotherhood, and accused it of betraying the principles. Such groups have carried out some acts of violence against the Jews, the British, and some citizens, such as the case of Al-Khazindar [In March 1948, members of the Muslim Brotherhood secret apparatus assassinated a judge, Ahmad al-Khazindar Bey, who had given a prison sentence to a Muslim Brother for attacking British soldiers]. We said to them: We have tried such things, but they have not been helpful, and we have not gained anything out of them other than detention, suffering, and victimization.

Man ought to be able to change his plans on the basis of what he sees. All Islamist movements are entitled to try for themselves, and start from zero until they reach the conclusions of the preceding groups. The jihadis who reproached the Muslim Brotherhood for some issues, have gone back, retreated, considered themselves to have been wrong, and issued more than 12 books most of which are revisions, including the Islamic Group in Egypt, and many others that are based on violence, or use military force against the governments or against the citizens themselves.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Sheikh Ahmad Yassin subscribed to the principle that his movement should not engage in any political activities. He stood by this principle until he was assassinated. After Hamas won the elections, and joined the political process, does the current situation in Palestine prove the correctness of the stance of the Hamas founder?

[Al-Qaradawi] The political issues are subject to improvisation and change; they are not firm principles, but they are viewpoints that change with the change of situation and circumstances. Hamas's refusal to join the political process and the elections has its circumstances. However, when Hamas discovered that there is someone who was going to usurp the state, encroach upon it, and that its members would become prisoners, it decided to fight the elections. Hamas won the elections contrary to the expectations of its opponents; thus the elections proceeded without rigging, contrary to many of the elections that take place in the Arab and Muslim countries.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Recently Sudan failed to keep its southern province. The secession is taking place under the influence of an Islamist address by Al-Bashir, who threatens to apply Islamic Shariaa in the south. Are Al-Bashir actions an embarrassment for Islamist groups?

[Al-Qaradawi] First of all, Al-Bashir will not apply Islamic Shariaa in the south, because any region that does not contain a Muslim majority does not have to apply the Shariaa, as the case is in South Sudan. Shariaa only applies in the regions that have Muslim majorities. The application of Shariaa is not what has led to the secession of the south; there are numerous reasons for this secession, which started with the British occupation that isolated South Sudan from North Sudan, and considered it an independent state, as the northern citizen would not be able to enter the south without special procedures, and the south was instilled with the culture of hating Khartoum. However, Sudan has not exerted any effort since its independence to combat what the colonialist powers had entrenched, and to change the inherited concepts; moreover, there are schemes plotted for that purpose.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Are you in favor of the conspiracy theory?

[Al-Qaradawi] I am not in favor of the conspiracy theory. However, the issue cannot be ignored. The reality has proved that there are conspiracies that scheme to secede the south from Sudan. Unfortunately, the world around us is talking in the language of blocs, and the scattered entities are getting together; however, the Arabs and Muslims still are in a state of increasing fragmentation and division. Europe that had fought each other, has found its interest in uniting and disregarding the entire past, contrary to what we do.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Have you been offered the post of president of Al-Azhar?

[Al-Qaradawi] No, never, and it can never be offered to me at any time.

[Asharq Al Awsat] What about the post of the general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood?

[Al-Qaradawi] It has been offered to me several times, but I personally declined.

[Asharq Al Awsat] What were your reasons for declining?

[Al-Qaradawi] I found that it would be better for me to be a guide for the nation in general, with all its groups and tendencies, rather than be a guide for one of the groups, because this is more beneficial.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Was there government pressure involved?

[Al-Qaradawi] No, nothing like this.

[Asharq Al Awsat] What is your personal opinion of the attendance by Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Ashura [anniversary of the battle of Karbala and martyrdom of Imam Hussein Bin-Ali, 10 Muharram every Hegira year] celebration in Turkey? Is there a Shiite invasion of the Sunni cities?

[Al-Qaradawi] With regard to the Shiite invasion, I have said it repeatedly that in order to achieve effective rapprochement among the two schools of thinking, we ought to refrain from promoting one school of thinking in the societies of the other school. Because of this, the Shiites have become angry with me, especially after I called on the Sunni ulema to strengthen the Sunnis with any culture that protects from this invasion. This is because the Shiite school of thinking is trained for preaching their creed, and allocating large funds for this. Moreover, the Shiites have behind them a country to guide them.

With regard to Turkey, there are those in Istanbul who are known as Alawi [Shiite sub-sect, and an offshoot of the Shiite Twelvers], and perhaps they are the ones who celebrated Ashura. The attendance by Recep Tayyip Erdogan definitely was due to political reasons, especially as he is known for his skill and diplomacy; it is an attempt to win the hearts of all Turkish sides, especially the Alawi, the same as he did with the Kurds.

[Asharq Al Awsat] From an Islamic jurisprudence perspective, why is there always a crisis over every issue related to women, as it became apparent in Saudi Arabia recently over the work of women as "cashiers"?

[Al-Qaradawi] The crisis cannot be attributed to the Islamic jurisprudence. It is a crisis of some people in understanding these issues. The Salafi tendency was one of the most hard line about issue; however, recently new ideas have started to enter the tendency, and to create some kind of flexibility. The best proof of this is the conference of Islamic University in Medina to present the efforts of the Kingdom to serve the Islamic issues, as there was distinguished presence of women, and they participated in the research work and verbal interventions. This was the first time I saw such participation. Moreover, some time ago, I read about the discussions of the issue of "women driving cars," the discussions took place publicly, which showed the development of the situation and the gradual steering away from rigidity. With time, the viewpoints of such issues will get closer.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Can you give us your opinion on two controversial issues; the mixing of the sexes and listening to music?

[Al-Qaradawi] What is meant by mixing of the sexes? Sometimes the term suggests something different from what is intended. This is as if it is mixing two issues together. If we are talking about man meeting woman in the mosque, as they meet in pilgrimage, mini-pilgrimage, scientific institutions, and scientific lessons, Islam does not prevent this. There are no mosques for women; what is known as Women's Gate at the Prophet's Mosque was ordered by the honorable Prophet, God's prayer and peace be upon him, in order to prevent men brushing against women. Islam has not ordered the existing severe separation between the sexes, because man is from a woman, and woman is from a man. God Almighty says: "The Believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil [Sura Al-Tawbah, from Verse 71]." Therefore, a woman has the right to enter the parliamentary and Shura councils. Women are half the society. Why can man decide the affairs of women, while women cannot decide and participate in deciding their own affairs?! When there is a need for mixing the genders in worship, education, or social activities, it is imperative to observe the Shariaa controls, such as absence of privacy, absence of excessive makeup, and observing the necessary ethics of lowering the eyes, and politeness in talking walking, and movement in order to prevent the situation from becoming chaotic.

[Asharq Al Awsat] What about singing and music?

[Al-Qaradawi] Previously, I wrote a book about singing and music in which I allowed singing and listening to music. This is an issue over which the faqihs, past and present, have disagreed, and over which many books have been written. The fact is that singing, whether or not accompanied by a musical instrument, is allowed, but under controls including that its contents do not contradict the creed, Shariaa, and Islamic ethics such as mysteries of Iliya Abu-Madi, which were sung in colloquial by Muhammad Abdal-Wahhab in his song "Without Asking Why;" the poetry of Abu-Nuwwas that says [poetry] "Do not blame me, because blame is a temptation, and cure me with what was the illness;" the song "The one with daring eyes;" or the song "Life is a cigarette and a drink." Also the way of performing ought to steer away from wantonness. This also is linked to women, as it is allowed to listen to women, as there is nothing wrong in listening to a woman singing "Beloved mother?" The honorable Prophet listened to two women slaves. However, women's voices ought to steer away from wantonness and arousing lust. The controls include that singing should not be coupled with something prohibited, and hence the quantity of listening ought to be observed, and there ought to be no excess in listening.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Your Eminence, your relations with the Salafis in the past has gone through major tensions. How are your relations with them now?

[Al-Qaradawi] Now, they are good relations. Here I am today in the country of the Salafi. It is clear that my relations with all are as good as we might wish with all age groups. Moreover, I do not adopt a hostile stance toward Salafi tendency; it is merely a stance of criticism in some aspects. I always call on everybody to adopt centrism. I also am in favor of Sufism. It is imperative to adopt what is best in Sufism, as the Sheikh of Islam Ibn-Taymiyah and Imam Ibn-al-Qayyim did; they were among the greatest Sufis, but they rejected from Sufism what is inappropriate. Personally, I call for "making Sufism into Salafi" and "making Salafi into Sufi." The Sufi takes from the discipline of Salafi in not following the fabricated Hadith, polytheist rites, and tomb-side rites, and we want the Salafi to take from the Sufi tenderness, spirituality, and piousness. From this mixture we get the required Muslim.

[Asharq Al Awsat] With whom among the Saudi Sheikhs do you have special relations?

[Al-Qaradawi] Recently I had a meeting with my friend Sheikh Salih Bin-Humayd, preacher of the Kaaba Mosque and chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council; this is in addition to Dr Muhammad al-Aqla, president of the Islamic University in Medina; Sheikh Abdullah Bin-Mani, who is an old friend. I have great amicable links to the Saudi mufti, and I met him when he was first appointed as Saudi general mufti. The mufti said to me that he was a reader of my books, including "Imperativeness of the Islamic Solution" and "The Imported Solutions," in addition to my books in political thinking. Also I had great amicable relations with Sheikh Abdulaziz Bin-Baz, God have mercy on his soul.

[Asharq Al Awsat] What about Sheikh Salman al-Awdah?

[Al-Qaradawi] (Laughs) He is one of my closest friends, and they consider him a follower of Al-Qaradawi's course.

[Asharq Al Awsat] And Sheikh Hasan al-Saffar?

[Al-Qaradawi] There are good relations between him and me. I have met him recently in Qatar, and I sent him a letter of thanks when he denounced the stance adopted by the Kuwaiti man against Lady Aishah [Prophet's wife], God be satisfied with her.

[Al-Salih] Have you seen Al-Jama'ah series, in which a characterization of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood Group, Hasan al-Banna, was presented, and which was shown on the television screens last Ramadan?

[Al-Qaradawi] The fact is that I did not see it, because I was busy, but I saw a few sections of it, and I was told about it. It seems to me that it was not fair in presenting the life of Al-Banna, it exaggerated some issues at the expense of others, most prominently is that the series ended before his death, while it should have ended with the end of Hasan al-Banna and his assassination. The series ended without mentioning his assassination in order not to condemn his murderers.

[Asharq Al Awsat] How has age changed Sheikh Al-Qaradawi?

[Al-Qaradawi] There is no doubt that it added more maturity. The longer one lives, the more his experience increases, the more his reading increases, the deeper his insight gets, and the more his maturity increases. As they say, life is the best teacher, and life is a school for anyone who lives it with open eyes and mind.

[Asharq Al Awsat] How do you describe yourself?

[Al-Qaradawi] I am one of the soldiers of Islam. I am a soldier of God Almighty fighting with knowledge, work, and call for God. I wish to conclude my life by martyrdom for the sake of God. We have a well-known prayer: "O God, we beseech you to grant us happy life, martyr's death, winning in judgment, and victory over the enemies." Praise be to God, we are happy with our belief, and I wish that God concludes my life with martyrdom, and that my martyrdom be at the hand of a non-Muslim.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Do you suspect that one day your martyrdom will be at the hand of a Muslim?

[Al-Qaradawi] This might happen by a crazy person.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Have you ever been threatened?

[Al-Qaradawi] Only the Jews have threatened me publicly. I have not been threatened by a Muslim. However, it is not excluded that someone affiliated to the extremist groups would come and want to get rid of me.

[Asharq Al Awsat] Your Eminence, who do you miss?

[Al-Qaradawi] I miss most of my friends, who have gone one after the other, and now I am alone. However, praise be to God, I feel very happy because people love me everywhere.

[Asharq Al Awsat] What are your thoughts on the latest fatwa by Ansar al-Sunnah al-Muhammadiyyah Group [Supporters of Muhammad Sunnah Group] about ElBaradei nominating himself as a candidate in the presidential elections, the fatwa that says that it is allowed for the guardian to detain, imprison, or even execute ElBaradei, because of his destabilization of the country and of the state security?

[Al-Qaradawi] No one is allowed to say this, because the Constitution has secured this and granted it to others (Al-Qaradawi means being a candidate in the elections).

[Picture: Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Photo: Wiki]

Sufis And Yogis

By ABNA Writer, *Hindu and Muslim religious leaders met to ease tensions* - Ahlul Bayt News Agency - Iran; Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Hindu and Muslim religious leaders from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan met to explore forming a spiritual alliance to ease tensions, counter extremism, and set a new tone for the region.

Gathering thirty-five leaders from various traditions, the Sufi-Yogi Dialogue took place in a place famous for spiritual seers and sages, Rishikesh, on the banks of the sacred Ganges River in India.

The Sufis and Yogis in particular were chosen for this ground-breaking dialogue because they represent the mystical core of the Islamic and Hindu traditions.

As such, they are especially suited to distilling the essence of unity, the direct experience of the Divine, at the heart of both religions, –and perhaps ultimately of all religious experience.

Tapping into this inner source of unity, common to all spiritual paths at their innermost level, has the potential to guide us to outer unity in our crisis-torn world.

Experiencing our true identity with the Divine can then serve as a fulcrum for global healing and harmony.

Chapters On Sufism

By TCN News, *MSO demands 10% reservation to Muslims* - Two Circles Net - Cambridge, MA, USA; Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Ajmer: The national executive meeting of Muslim Students Organization of India (MSO) demanded Central Government 10% reservation to Muslims in job and education and urged it to monitor the minority welfare schemes to make sure that the fruits of the schemes reach the deserving community.

The meeting was organized to discuss the issues related to the community and the country on 25th and 26th December at Ajmer Sharif dargah in Ajmer, Rajasthan. The MSO officials, members along with intellectuals and scholars from various district of the state as well as other parts of the country participated the meeting.

The participants were concerned that the benefit of PM’s 15-pint Programme is not reaching the community properly and demanded that Govt. must check and monitor the corruption in these schemes specially the minority scholarship schemes.

They also stressed on promotion of Sufi teachings for establishment of communal harmony and brotherhood in the country. For that they advised that school books should contain chapters on Sufism and Sufi preachers.

Besides, the meeting demanded Central Government to initiate for establishment of a central university in the name of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz as early as possible. It also urged the Rajasthan Government to provide better facilities to the pilgrims of Ajmer Sharif dargah.

Ghalib's Legacy

By Staff Reporter, *Campaign to resurrect Mirza Ghalib's legacy gathers momentum* - Sify News - India; Friday, December 24, 2010

New Delhi: The campaign to resurrect the poetic legacy of Mirza Ghalib, the iconic 19th century classical Sufi lyricist and poet, is gathering momentum with the installation of his bust Sunday at his family home here on the eve of his 213th birth anniversary.

The Mirza Ghalib Haveli is located at Gali Qasim Jaan near Ballimaran in Chandi Chowk, the old Mughal quarters of the capital.

Ghalib, who was born in Agra in 1797 into a family of Aibak Turks, wrote in Urdu. He witnessed the decline of the Mughal empire and the independence war of 1857, about which he wrote extensively. He penned hundreds of ghazals that have been sung by exponents in the last 200 years. After losing his father early, he was raised by his uncle. Ghalib spent his adult life in the capital.

The mansion, which had degenerated into a dilapidated home, was restored to a memorial with the help of the Delhi government and a citizens' initiative led by noted Kathak exponent Uma Sharma in 2001.

The bust, commissioned by Oscar-winning lyricist Gulzar, has been sculpted by Bhagwan Rampure, a well-known artist from Sholapur in Maharashtra.

The bust will be unveiled by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Sunday, a day before Ghalib's birthday, in the presence of Gulzar, writer Pawan Varma, danseuse Uma Sharma and hundreds of Mirza Ghalib's fans.

Also on Sunday, Gulzar will join citizens of the capital for a candlelight march from Chandi Chowk's main square to Ghalib's haveli in an annual ritual as a tribute to the poet.

On Monday there will be a cultural soiree at the India Islamic Cultural Centre featuring interpretation's Ghalib's works through dance, music, readings and recitations. The event could not be held at Ghalib's haveli due to paucity of space.

The birthday celebrations will be presided over by Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Announcing the unveiling of Ghalib's bust, Gulzar said Friday he had commissioned it 'so that people could see it and identified the mansion as Ghalib's home'.

'When I went to Russia, I saw Tolstoy's and Puskin's busts that were installed by the government. Delhi has several busts and statues, but I have not seen one of Ghalib's. I told Pawan Varma: 'Let me install a bust of Mirza Ghalib'.

'I got in touch with my old friend Rampure at his Sholapur studio and told him to sculpt a bust of Ghalib. Rampure is known for his bust sculptures and public art installations. He has set up an academy where young students are honing their skills,' Gulzar said.

'I am associated with a movement to resurrect Ghalib's legacy. I wish along with Shakespeare, Ghalib, Tagore and Kalidasa are taught in schools and colleges as part of the regular curiculum,' the lyricist, who is translating Rabindranath Tagore's work, said.

He said a portrait of Mirza Ghalib commissioned by late president Zakir Hussain served as the blueprint for the sculpture. Gulzar has also serialised the poet and his works in a six-and-a-half hour tele-capsule.

Danseuse Uma Sharma, who is leading a movement since 2001 to resurrect Ghalib's legacy, said she 'brought the plight of Ghalib's home to the notice of the Delhi government after which it was restored'.

Pawan Varma, who has written a book on Mirza Ghalib, 'The Man: The Times', said: 'Delhi's historical heritage was subject to neglect because people were ignorant and there was certain amount of amnesia associted with the capital's legacy.'

'Ghalib is a great metaphor for the culture of the city,' Varma maintained.

[Picture: Mirza Ghalib. Photo: Wiki.]

Moment Of Wonder

By Anil Purohit, *A Sufi's silence* - The Hindu - India; Sunday, December 26, 2010

Many may have lost access to the mosque and the ones who enter may still not get to know who Kamali was. But the architecture will definitely give you a glimpse of the era gone by.

A caretaker down the path from the Jamali-Kamali mosque walked up to us while Ashutosh and I stood peering from behind the locked gate into the courtyard fronting the red sandstone mosque in Delhi's Mehrauli Archaeological Park, wondering what to do next. The caretaker looked at my camera, deduced we were visitors and produced a key from his pocket.

A walkthrough

“We've restricted access to the mosque after some locals forced their way in to offer Friday prayers and lay claim to the protected structure,” he said, leaning his shoulder on the gate before forcing it back just enough for us to pass through.

A tree stood in the courtyard by a dry pool. Peering into the pool it's easy to imagine faces reflecting back from centuries ago when men performed ablutions in the pool before stepping across the courtyard to answer the call to prayer in the large hall approached through an imposing central arch flanked on either side by two ornamented arches before ending in staircases leading to the roof of the single domed structure from whose corners four octagonal towers resembling turrets in forts rise above the trees.

Pointing to the ceiling the caretaker said, “These are verses Jamali composed himself.”

We looked up from the two graves centered in the mausoleum, a square building we had reached from walking along the eastern façade of the adjoining red sandstone mosque said to have been built by Jamali in 1528-29, and were met with an astonishing profusion of the most intricate of patterns arrayed seamlessly in blue, and ochre. It was what I might see on a starry night if I looked up long and hard, stars rearranging themselves into patterns and repeating across the sky as if guided by a divine hand helping the gazing eye make sense of the cosmos.

While the colours had faded in places, the outlines of the designs were easily recognisable, and the proximity of repeating patterns ensured the absence of colours in one was ‘filled in' by colours of another.

It took me a while to actually locate the verses among the exquisite designs set along the ceiling of the mausoleum located in a walled enclosure that also features several cenotaphs. However it is to the element of mystery associated with the identity of Kamali buried with Jamali in the adjoining mausoleum that visitors to the Jamali-Kamali Mosque are drawn to before the mausoleum's ceiling embellished with pre-Mughal art takes their breath away, the tombs of Jamali and Kamali at their feet ceasing to exist in that moment of wonder.

The mausoleum's interior is finished in white plaster and inlaid with floral patterns embellishing the arches that surmount niches built in the walls at corner diagonals, reminding of mihrab niches in mosques. A screen or perforated jaali built into the eastern façade flooded the chamber with light from the winter sun, the perforations weaving patterns on the twin marble graves laid on the floor.

The caretaker had left the door open for the duration we were inside, reducing the patterns to mere hints. But once the door closed behind us, the perforated screen would blanket the graves with light-footed patterns, lengthening through sundown before moonlit nights would return their melodies to the silence of the Sufi, enveloping time with the timelessness of the peaceful.

Jamali, a derivation of Jamal, meaning ‘beauty' in Urdu, and likely earned for his renown as a Sufi and poet in the court of Sikandar Lodi before transitioning to the courts of Babur followed by Humayun after the Mughals eclipsed the Lodis, was actually a pseudo name of Shaikh Fazlu'llah or Jalal Khan.

Variously called a dervish, a Sufi, a wandering minstrel, and a poet, Jamali's reputation as a highly regarded Sufi saint of the Lodi-Mughal transition period is survived in his orks, key among them is Siyar-I-Arfin, his account in Persian of the Sufis in India belonging to the Suhrawardi order.

The Chisti was the prominent Sufi order in 16th century India. Jamali Kamboh died in 1536, not long after the mosque that bears his name was completed, and was buried in the adjacent mausoleum. He is credited with building the mosque in 1528-29 in the period the Delhi Sultanate fell into terminal decline with the Lodis ceding power to the Mughals.

As a result the mosque came to be considered as an important example of pre-Mughal architecture and is credited with influencing in part mosque architecture in the Mughal period.

“Nobody knows who Kamali was,” the caretaker said, pointing to the second grave. The identity of Kamali buried alongside Jamali is a mystery to this day while the name is understood to have originated to rhyme with ‘Jamali'.

Over time Kamali has been variously speculated to be his brother, his son, and his lover among other people. Glancing at the ceiling Jamali's verses rendered in calligraphy amid well preserved coloured tiles and painted decorations convey the persuasion of a man who on being initiated in the Sufi doctrines by Shaikh Samauddin apparently redeemed his mentor's faith in the best traditions of Sufism, its development known to have been influenced by Hinduisim's Bhakti movement of the time. I let my gaze hang about the mausoleum.

Finer details

I could've plucked the silence like a string and let float sounds to the echo of time long past, to when the song of a Sufi likely tempered the turbulence of uncertain times.

To the east of the walled enclosure, with arched niches and gates set in the wall and tombs aligned along its length, rises a gentle swell surmounted by Metcalf's Canopy.

The swell gradually raises the ascending eye above the line of trees, at the Qutb Minar emerging in the skyline opposite. The flecks of white visible in breaks in the canopies reveal the tomb of Quli Khan that was converted by Charles Metcalf into a retreat and named Dilkhusha or Heart's Delight.

It's lost to time, not to memory. Bathed in winter sunshine the swell of green opposite sets off the aging plaster of the walled enclosure securing the Jamali-Kamali mosque and the mausoleum.

Solitary figures sit in silence on the grassy incline, soaking the Delhi sun in Mehrauli's old quarter, home to monuments largely resulting from Delhi's turbulent history following Prithviraj Chauhan's defeat in 1192 at the hands of the invading Afghan marauder Muhammad Ghori, paving the way for the Muslim conquest of India, beginning Delhi. Delighted squeals of children at cricket emerge from behind a patch of trees.

A wicket has fallen. The laughter ceases as the next batsman takes guard, much like the kings of yore. Before long the game will be over, and the sun will set, on the remains of an empire.

Picture: Embellished with pre-Mughal art: Jamali-Kamali. Photo: TH.

Rethink The Stereotype

By Aisha Chowdhry, *Everyday Af-Pak: Skateistan, Slackistan and more* - The Express Tribune - Karachi, Pakistan; Thursday, December 23, 2010

The recent release of documentaries and films about Afghanistan and Pakistan cover a wide array of topics.
Filmmakers are trying to alter the negative image of these countries, or at least showcase a more nuanced angle by showing everyday life in those areas.

Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul
Who would have thought there is a skateboarding school in Afghanistan? Produced and directed by Orlando von Einsiedel, this film tells the story of a country’s (and the world’s) first non-profit and co-educational school of this kind, providing youth “with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education, and personal empowerment.”

Made in Pakistan

On its October 29, 2007 cover, Newsweek tagged Pakistan as the “most dangerous place in the world.” Ayesha Khan, CEO of Indus Valley Productions responded to the cover’s message through a documentary titled “Made in Pakistan”. The word ‘dangerous’ may not be one of the words that come up while watching this documentary.

Ramchand Pakistani
This film by Mehreen Jabbar was selected for the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. It explores what transpires when a Pakistani Hindu boy and his father accidentally cross the border into India at a time of extreme tension between the two countries, and are subsequently held in an Indian jail for five years. Based on a true story, the film touches on religious and political undertones, but is “inherently the story of a family that is separated and the experience of that separation on the young boy and his mother,” noted Jabbar.

Slackistan
This recent film by Hammad Khan portrays the social lives of privileged young adults in Islamabad, the dubbed, ‘city that always sleeps.’ Although these youth’s lives are punctuated by Pakistan’s security situation, it does not define them.

Rethink Afghanistan
This film shows graphic images and heart-wrenching interviews with Afghans and the impact of the war on their everyday lives.

Camp Victory Afghanistan
This documentary directed by Carol Dysinger focuses on the US/Nato exit strategy from the country, but also highlights the strong emotional bond between an Afghan general and a US Army Colonel, subsequently humanising the military operations in Afghanistan.

Afghan Star
This documentary shows the tremendous risks four contestants take in an American Idol-style reality competition. The film, which won awards at the Sundance Film Festival last year, showcases the nuances and diversity that exist among Afghans throughout the country – from a female contestant who received death threats for letting her head scarf slip to a young man from the Hazara community who reaches the finals. Afghan Star received much critical acclaim, even garnering praise from Oprah Winfrey who called the film, “a fantastic documentary about a talent competition in a country where you would never dream such a thing is possible.”

Without Shepherds
This upcoming documentary crosscuts between six people wrestling with a country in turmoil and defiantly standing for change: a cricket star building a new political party, a trucker crossing dangerous territory to feed his family, a supermodel pushing feminism through fashion, a subversive Sufi rocker using music to heal, a female journalist working behind Taliban lines, and an ex-mujahid seeking redemption. By exploring these diverse narratives, the film – a partnership between American and Pakistani filmmakers – aims to contextualise Pakistan.

Changing perceptions

Although many of these films were made with the intention of challenging the polarising perceptions of these countries, did they impact their audience or did people watch, discuss, and forget?

In an interview with Ayesha Khan, executive producer of Made in Pakistan and director of Kashf: The Lifting of the Veil, she talks about the incredible effect that her films have had on the viewers.

“The visual image of Pakistan in the United States equates the people to terrorists, but after seeing two films showing a very normal Pakistan, the audience is forced rethink the stereotype,” she said.

These films are also positively affecting charity work in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Khan spoke about how they have had an effect on donations for Pakistan.

Her company, Indus Valley Productions, partnered with two other organisations in a grassroots campaign called Relief4Pakistan which was for Pakistani flood victims.

“We have had strong support from people who have watched the two films for the flood relief effort. For example, Ali Macgraw came to a benefit for Relief4Pakistan and announced that because of Kashf she felt she knows a different Pakistan than that was portrayed in the media,” Khan said.

Orlando von Einsiedel’s film Skateistan: To Live And Skate Kabul has received 400,000 views online in one month.

“If you watch normal media reports, it is very easy to just believe there is no hope for the whole country. I hope that with this film, it shows that hope is very much alive in Afghanistan especially among some of the kids highlighted in the movie,” Von Einsiedel said.

Von Einsiedel also talks about the need for creating awareness on projects like Skateistan, the first skateboarding school in Afghanistan. The school gives the youth the ability to learn how to skate, gives them education, and provides a healthy escape for them. “Hopefully the film will raise awareness about the Skateistan project so they will be able to help more kids in the future,” he said.

Khan shared a story of three women who were actively involved in the Obama campaign in Santa Fe, NM. After watching “Kashf”, an apolitical film about Sufism highlighting a very different side of Islam in Pakistan, they raised their concern to the Obama administration about drone attacks in Pakistan.

Many of these film screenings are sold out. The brains behind the films share a strong passion for what they do and hope to make a positive change in perceptions, without being apologetic about the problems their countries face.

Khan said, “I think what’s kept us going with both films is the amount of emails we get after every screening,” Khan said. “When you read these emails, you can sense a sort of tangible shift in attitudes.”

“If you can do something that makes people think differently about Afghanistan, that is a positive thing,” Von Einsiedel said.

Visit Indus Valley Production ; Relief4Pakistan ; Skateistan Org. websites

Picture: Filmmakers are trying to alter the negative image of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Photo: Jake Simkin.